June 11, 2006

Mazzy Star: B-Sides, Rarities, and Live Stuff

Do you remember how wonderful Mazzy Star was? Hope Sandoval could be in my top trifecta of female voices with her sultry, lazy, laconic sound. I wrote about her a good while back on the Monday Music Roundup and I said of that song, “I picture a voice coming out of a black, black room – like you are sitting somewhere in the dark and suddenly you hear this lolling voice, like a slowly swirling river, out of nowhere.” A sound like no one else, a distinctive voice which I didn’t realize I missed until I came across this great collection.

You need to populate your newfangled iPod with the seductive mid-’90s sounds of Hope Sandoval & David Roback, and this fan-produced assemblage of live cuts, b-sides, and other rarities is a superb and painless way to do it.

01. Fade Into You (live)
02. Ride It On (live acoustic)
03. Sometimes Always (live)
04. I’m Gonna Bake My Biscuit (originally by “Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe,” b-side to “Fade Into You” single)
05. Under My Car (another b-side to “Fade Into You”)
06. Tell Me Now (from the Batman Forever soundtrack, b-side to U2′s “Hold Me, Thrill Me…”)
07. Hair and Skin (originally by Green on Red, b-side to “Flowers in December”)
08. Tell Your Honey (b-side to “Flowers in December”)
09. Had a Thought (b-side to “Flowers in December”)
10. Flowers in December (radio edit)
11. Sometimes Always (I’m pretty sure this is just the studio version with Jim Reid from Jesus & Mary Chain’s Stoned and Dethroned. Still gorgeous.)
12. Ride It On (live)
13. Ghost Highway (live)
14. Blue Light (live)
15. Into Dust (live)
16. Bells Ring (acoustic)

DOWNLOAD ALL THE MAZZY STAR GOODNESS AS A ZIP FILE, for the love of all things good & holy.

By the way, according to the Hope Sandoval website, Capitol will release The Mazzy Star Anthology and a deluxe CD/DVD in 2006. Wasn’t this supposed to be released in April 2005?

And this was VERY interesting, from an article in Los Angeles CityBeat about Massive Attack: “Perhaps the band’s next album, Weather Underground, due early next year, will break through. Marshall says the crew has already recorded 15 tracks, with TV on the Radio and Albarn contributing, and the possibility that David Bowie and Hope Sandoval will step in later.” I would think that would be a smashing collaboration.

Also highly worth checking out is the track she collaborated with The Chemical Brothers on, “Asleep From Day,” plus she contributed the vocals to a version of Air’s “Cherry Blossom Girl,” but I can’t find it. Can anyone send it to me? Got it now! Thanks!

PS – Everytime I talk about Air, I am compelled to say “AirFrenchBand” (all one word) like my dear friend Jenn always does. Just to clarify.

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14 Comments

  • I’ve got that version of Cherry Blossom Girl somewhere I’m sure, I’ll have a root around for it tonight if somebody else doesn’t get it to you in the meantime.

    REPLACEMENTS BEST OF TODAY (in the UK anyway :) YAAAAAAAY.

    lism. — June 12, 2006 @ 4:47 am

  • I love Mazzy Star…can’t wait to hear these. BTW, there’s a live show of theirs over at Earfarm: http://earfarm.blogspot.com/2006/05/
    weekend-live-music_20.html if you’re interested. Thanks, Heather!

    J — June 12, 2006 @ 6:51 pm

  • heather,
    can you please, please, preaty please post the Chemical Brothers and Air songs for us, I’m dying to hear them!

    Thanks,
    natalie :)

    PS:
    sweet blog…

    Anonymous — June 13, 2006 @ 6:25 pm

  • Now all I need is the complete recordings of David Roback’s Opal (aka Clay Allison) and I’ll be a happy man!

    David — June 15, 2006 @ 12:07 pm

  • This may date me, The radio station I worked at brought Mazzy Star to town as they were just beginning to tour. What I remember most was how painfully uncomfortable and small Hope looked on stage. She just stood for the entire set, looking above the crowd, holding the mic in one hand and twirling the mic cable with the other. Like some one had a gun to her back. But she sang wonderfully, with all the power that would be released on “She hangs Brightly”

    Nooshaji — June 15, 2006 @ 9:44 pm

  • Her solo album is great! It seems Mazzy Star is getting rediscovered, but no one realizes how great her record was from a few years ago. Check it out if you havent: It’s called Bavarian Fruit Bread, and it’s grand.

    Mr Lucky Doubles — June 18, 2006 @ 1:05 am

  • The Opal stuff (David Roback and Kendra Smith) is available here:

    http://endlessmike101.blogspot.com/2006/03/opal.html

    jon manyjars — June 21, 2006 @ 10:50 am

  • WWWOWW!! i don’t words, i’m so happy, i was searching info and names of thats fucking goods songs. i love asleep from a day!! and da 1st time i hearded (‘n i seeit ‘cas it was when i see the airfrance’ spot, btw i loveit!!) i was crazy to know more about its singers!!.. thx to u to let me know who was that wonderfull singer who sang in that song!!.. i got that song (obbiously the spot too,jejeje) and lyrics, if u wanted jsut searchit on google.com or on emule!!…. it’s so fucking good,iloveit!!..
    the spot u can findit here!!..:

    http://pubstv.com/telechargement-F684497B427B16296341A02DDE46FE.html

    at http://pubstv.com/ u can find any pub-spot u want!!!.. is a so interesting page!!!!!!!!!!!

    mauricio mosquera — October 23, 2006 @ 2:08 pm

  • thx Heather!!!!!!!

    mauricio mosquera — October 23, 2006 @ 2:12 pm

  • Hello Heather!

    Please Re-Post the Mazzy Star ZIP!

    Thanks. Alex

    Anonymous — September 19, 2007 @ 5:16 am

  • I beg you please repost these songs. I can listen but I cannot download. I would be forever in your debt. I love each one and I would love you forever if you repost! THANK YOU!!!!

    AmongYourSwan — December 2, 2007 @ 11:24 pm

  • Oh yes, as so many already begged for, could you pretty pretty please make the .zip REALLY downloadable? as you said, “for the love of all things good & holy”…

    shepherd — December 10, 2007 @ 2:50 pm

  • Please … someone make this available again!

    Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 10:28 pm

  • Yet another pretty please to upload these. I’m scouring high and low for Mazzy bootlegs and this is the best-looking collection I’ve seen so far.

    Meredith — July 7, 2008 @ 6:09 pm

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Bio Pic Name: Heather Browne
Location: Colorado, originally by way of California
Giving context to the torrent since 2005.

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel."
—Hunter S. Thompson

Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.

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